Keystone Kapers II Found

[Tempest]

Looks like Dan donated his Keystone Kapers II prototype to the NVGM. Hopefully they'll release the rom soon. Too bad it's really just a nice looking tech demo.

 

[+Cafeman]

Wow, my hat is off again to Dan. I'd have loved to play that once finished.

[+sramirez2008]

This looks pretty great! Wonder what the background story was? Do you chase and catch the robber before the train reaches a station? Would love to hear the story behind this one.

[xybot67]

This is so cool! It reminds me of the unreleased James Bond Octopussy game from Parker Brothers.

[Supergun]

Incredible! This looks amazing! The imagination & level of detail that went into this game is top notch. And the graphics are beautiful. So I just have 3 questions here:

 

1) How did something this significant remain hidden for so long? I mean, its an Activision game, from one of their key employees/designers, who has been well aware of (and involved with) the retro Atari resurgence scene since its beginnings. Why did he not say a word about this before & why come forward now?

 

2) Tech demo? I mean, check me if Im wrong here, but even in an unplayable state, and being just a rolling demo as it is, arent all of those graphics & routines contained within the data on the eprom? So finishing this (or polishing it a bit) and making it into a playable state is far easier then simpler & earlier more incomplete protos out there.

 

3) Are you serious? The museum? Im not going to even touch this topic yet. Consider this a placeholder. But I will be back to chime in later.

[Rom Hunter]

Holy shit.

This is fantastic.

Gotta love that parallax scrolling (and the famous Activision sunset).

Many thanks for sharing!

Edited July 31, 2018 by Rom Hunter

[Rom Hunter]

Why did he not say a word about this before?

He did.

 

Eons ago:

http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-keystone-kapers-ii_32930.html

 

Edited July 31, 2018 by Rom Hunter

[Tempest]

He even told me about it again at MGC this year. I have a blurb about it in my rumor mill section.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

That's a really great "find". Visually it looks very cool (no sound, right?).

 

I wonder how the gameplay would have been. With just two levels and no further obstacles, it might have become a bit too simple.

[CrazyChris]

Amazing even by today's standards!

[ubersaurus]

That parallax scrolling is pretty dang impressive. I don't think any console really had a handle on that until the snes.

[pacman000]

It reminds me of Back to the Future III. Wish the game had been finished. I'd love to play it!

[privateers69]

I imagine the side ladders are for the water pipes, tunnels and signs.

[Tempest]

I imagine the side ladders are for the water pipes, tunnels and signs.

Good guess. So you'd probably have to chase Harry across the train before he reached either the engine or caboose. Along the way you'd have to dodge various obstacles by jumping or going down the ladder. So basically, Keystone Kapers on a train.

[Foxsolo2000]

Holy shit.

 

This is fantastic.

 

Gotta love that parallax scrolling (and the famous Activision sunset).

 

Many thanks for sharing!

 

Seconded there. Wow this is truly amazing and hope for the future that others will at the very least show vids like this of other hidden treasures. Thanks for the update Tempest.

[moycon]

Very cool!!! The game looks amazing. The Activision folks were ahead of their time.

Prototypes of unreleased games are just so awesome. I remember when Lord of the Rings was found, I was in shock. Was The Incredible Hulk ever found?

[johnnywc]

2) Tech demo? I mean, check me if Im wrong here, but even in an unplayable state, and being just a rolling demo as it is, arent all of those graphics & routines contained within the data on the eprom? So finishing this (or polishing it a bit) and making it into a playable state is far easier then simpler & earlier more incomplete protos out there.

FYI - There is a post on the NVM FB page that mentions this, and Dan Kitchen commented saying that he plans on finishing the game by starting from scratch and releasing it this year.

[simbalion]

Wow! That is impressive for the 2600! Really shows what programmers could do with the system.

[SashaNein]

Wow! That is impressive for the 2600! Really shows what programmers could do with the system.

 

Combine this with Pitfall II, and it looks like we didn't take the Atari 2600 as far as it could go after the crash.

[+Trebor]

Seeing the proto reminded me of the arcade games Western Express/Express Raider and Iron Horse from 1986.

It could almost be perceived as a forerunner or a stripped down version of them.

Very impressive, regardless. Thanks for sharing it.

[Tempest]

FYI - There is a post on the NVM FB page that mentions this, and Dan Kitchen commented saying that he plans on finishing the game by starting from scratch and releasing it this year.

That's great, but I really hope they still release the rom for this version.

[7800Lover]

Wow! I heard about this.

 

It's too bad we don't have any idea about the backstory. Was Harry Hooligan back in this game too?

[+Kosmic Stardust]

FYI - There is a post on the NVM FB page that mentions this, and Dan Kitchen commented saying that he plans on finishing the game by starting from scratch and releasing it this year.

 

Great news! I would totally buy it.

 

I hope the proto rom also gets released, for posterities sake...

[Greg2600]

Really hope Dan can finish the game!

[+karokoenig]

Looks like it would have been much more to my liking than the original Keystone Kapers. Pretty nice ladder climbing animation.